Emergency-brake.



- PATBNTED MAR. 13, 1906. A. H. AMES.

EMERGENCY BRAKE.

APPLICATION rmm mun 8,1905.

229 121 v1'19 I; i7 28 FYGI WITNESSES- 11 24 UNITED STATES, PATENTOFFIOE.

ADDISON H. AMES,

OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JAMES B. STAHL,OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

EMERGENCY-BRAKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 13, 1906.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADDIsoN H. AMEs, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city and county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Emergency- Brakes,of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to improvements in emergency-brakes and it has forits object to; provide such-a brake adapted to be used -uponelectric-railway cars and also upon self-propelled vehicles, such asautomobiles.

Iy invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts, ashereinafter described, as set forth specifically in the claims, and asillustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of thisspecification, and in Figure I is a longitudinal sectional view of theunderframe of a car, taken on the line I I of Fig. II, having myinvention applied. Fig. II is an inverted plan view of the same, andFig. III is a transverse sectional view on the line III III of Fig. II.

:In the drawings, 1 designates the underi'rame of the car, which may beof any preferred construction, and 2 designates the flooring of the car,which is supported upon said underframe.

3 designates hanger-supports secured to the under side of theunderframe 1. As shown in Figs. II and III, four of thesehanger-supports are provided, although it will be understood that agreater or less number may be employed as desired. Each of these hangersis in the form of a yoke, as is shown in Fig. I of the drawings, andthey are secured at their opposite ends to the underframe of the car inany suitable and desirable manner. As illustrated in the drawings, theends of the said hanger supports are provided with plate-like portions6, provided with perforations (not shown) through which securing meansfor instance, bolts may be passed to connect the same to the underframe.At the center of each of the said hanger-supports an enlargement or boss7 is provided having a perforation 8, in which the vertical rods 9 aresupported and guided. The upper ends of the said rods are connected to asupporting-bar-lO, extending from side to side ofthe car, as clearlyshown in Figs. II and III of the drawings. Each of the rods 9 isprovided at its lower end with a brake shoe or member 11. Normally thesebrake shoes are held a short distance (about three inches) above ,thesurface of the ground 1 or pavement of the street by means of coiledsprings 15, which respectively surround each of the rods 9 above thebosses? of the hangersupports 3. The lower ends of the said springs restupon the said bosses, and the upper ends bear against the lower side ofthe bar 10. These springs are of just sufficient strength to support thebrake shoes or members 11 'in a position slightly elevated above thesurface of the ground or pavement, as previously stated.

In order to force the brake-shoes down upon the surface of the ground orpavement, I have provided a system of levers consisting of a lever 16and a lever 17, provided at one end portion of the car and which leversare adapted to be operated by a motorman stationed at the correspondingend of the car, and also the levers 18 and 19, provided at the other endportion of the car and adapted to be operated by a motorman stationed atthe corresponding end portion of the car. Each of the levers 16 and 18are pivotally supported upon brackets 20, secured in any suitable mannerto the underframe of the car.

The inner end of the lever 16 is pivotally connected to the outer end ofthe lever 17, and the inner end of the lever 18 is pivotally connectedto the outer The inner end of each of the levers 17 and 19, locatedunderneath the center of the underframe of the car, are respectivelypivotally connected in any suitable manner to the transverse bar 10. Asillustrated, the lever 17 is pivotally connected to the lower end of alink 21, the upper end of which is pivotally connected at 22 to an earor lug upon the said transverse bar 10. The inner end of the bar 19 isprovided with a yoke 24, the legs or ends of which are located uponopposite sides of the point at which the lever 17 is connected to thesaid bar. Each leg of the said yoke is pivotally connected to the lowerend of a link, the upper end of which is pivotally end of the lever 19.

connected to the bar 10 in the same manner as the link 21 is connectedthereto.

25 designates vertical rods, one of which is connected, respectively, tothe outer ends of the levers 16 and 1S and which rods extend up through.the floors 26 of the platforms of the car. Each one of the said rods isadapted to be depressed by the motorman placing his foot thereupon andexerting his weight upon the same.

By mere inspection of Figs. I and II of the drawings it will beunderstood that when either of the said rods is depressed the outer endof the lever to which the same is connected will be depressed,occasioning a vertical or upward movement of the inner end thereof andalso of the outer end of the lever to which the said inner end ispivotally connected. The vertical or upward movement of the said outerend of the second lever occasions the downward movement of the inner endthereof, which is pivotally connected to the transverse bar 10 in themanner heretofore set forth. For instance, depression of the outer endof the lever 1.6 would occasion depression of the inner end of the lever17 and a consequent depression of the trans verse bar 10 and of thebrake-shoes connected thereto against the upwardly-exerted force of thecoiled springs 15, surrounding each of the vertical rods 9, to which thebrake-shoes 11 are secured.

When the brake-shoes are forced down upon the surface of the ground orpavement over which the car is located, (the car being in motion,) itwill be understood that great lateral force is exerted upon the saidbrakeshoes and the rods to which the same are connected and that thereis liability of the said rods being bent to one side, depending upon thedirection in which the car is moving.

In order to prevent the bending of these rods in either direction, Ihave provided cables 28 upon opposite sides of the transverse center ofthe car, each of the said cables being connected to one of thebrake-shoes and being extended therefrom to the end of the car, where itis connected to the underframe thereof in any suitable and desirablemanner. These cables are of just sufficient length to extend from theirpoints of connection 30 to the underframe to their respective brakeshoeswhen the latter are in their lowermost position, so that the bending ofthe brakeshoes in either direction would be prevented by the saidcables.

Althoughmy invention is intended to be used only in cases of emergencywhere it is desired to bring the car quickly to a stop, yet it may beused to take the place of the ordinary brake which is applied to thewheels of the car.

When applied to an automobile or similar vehicle, it will be understoodthat as the driver or chauffeur always occupies substantially the sameposition in the vehicle only one of the cables and one of the systems ofle vers would be employed. The principle of the invention, however, bothas to construction and operation would be the same.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. In a brake mechanism, thecombination of a plurality of brake members, a bar extendingtransversely of the car, rods connecting the said brake members to thesaid transverse bar, means connected to the underframe of the car forsupporting and guiding the said rods, means for holding the said brakemembers out of engagement with the ground or pavement over which the caris located, a system of levers pivotally connected to the saidtransverse bar and extending therefrom to an end of the car, the saidlever being adapted to occasion movement of the said brake members intofrictional engagement with the ground or pavement, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a brake mechanism, the combination of a plurality of brakemembers, a bar extending transversely of the car, rods connecting thesaid brakes to the said transverse bar, means connected to theunderframe of the car for supporting and guiding the said rods, meansfor holding the said brake members out of engagement with the ground orpavement over which the car is located, a system of levers pivotallyconnected to the said transverse bar and extending therefrom to an endof the car, the said levers being adapted to occasion movement of thesaid brake members into frictional engagement with the ground orpavement, a plurality of cables or chainsconnected to the said brakemembers and extending in opposite directions therefrom and connected tothe underframe of the car.

3. A brake mechanism, in combination, a plurality of brake membershaving rods extending therefrom, a plurality of supports havingperforations provided therein through which the said rods extend, atransverse bar located above the said hanger-supports to which the saidrods are connected, coiled wire springs surrounding the said rods andbeing located between the said bar and the said hanger-supports andbeing adapted to hold the said brake members out of contact with theground or pavement over which the said car maybe located, systems oflevers pivotally connected to the said transverse bar and extending inopposite directions therefrom to the opposite ends of the car, meansconnected to the said systems of levers whereby each system may beoperated to occasion movement of said brake members into frictionalengagement with the said ground or my invention I have hereunto signedmy pavement, and a plurality of cables or chains name this 6th day ofJune, A. D. 1905. connected to the said brake members and extending inopposite directions therefrom to ADDISON AMES' 5 the underframe, toWhich the said cables are In presence of connected, substantially asdescribed. J. B. GLOVER,

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as EDWIN R. COX.

